Home Insurance can cover expensive bikes

[julk]

I recently acquired a Thorn eXp and was horrified at the price being quoted by the specialist cycle insurers. Worse, my house and contents insurer, Direct Line, would only give cover upto £1,500 and that cover was limited to loss by theft from a locked position.

I found Marks & Spencer house and contents insurance gives cover for unspecified items upto £4,000 (which includes bikes) and the items can be used away from the house. The quote I got was cheaper than my then current house and contents insurance and gave significantly better cover, plus it included all my bikes including the eXp!

I note that GreenBee (John Lewis) have just started selling a home insurance scheme which gives cover for items upto £5,000.

I have no connection with these insurance ventures other than being a new and happy customer of the M&S insurance.[]

[davefife]

I too am a householder with no connections in this field.  My RST is named and valued on the house and contents policy we have with Prudential and its covered when in use, all with no extra premium.  Fingers crossed I (and no one else) ever has to claim on this clause though!

[john28july]

Hello,
I used Prudential for home contents plus named bikes. When my bikes became more than £1000 each Prudential were too expensive. I am now with Norwich Union. They accept non named bikes and to a value that you can specify, in my own case £5500. Cost adds approx £56.00 to the Policy. Well worth it. But in my own case just paranoai really as I never ever leave bikes unattended-or at least have not in the past. Its just that one day maybe.
John.
www.pbase.com/john28july

[Swislon]

I've just changed my house & contents to M & S recommended by my LBS. Cheaper than current & bikes covered up to £4000 no additional premium as per julk above. Brilliant.[]

[stutho]

M&S here I come!!!  Excellent info thanks Swislon

[lewisnoble]

I now find that M & S are bno longer insuring bicycles!!  At least, if you are taking out a new policy with them . . . .

I wonder if other non-specialist insurers will go the same way.

Lewis

[julk]

Lewis,
Where did you hear this?

I just checked on the M&S Home Insurance site and found it still says this in the questions section

18.Do you insure bicycles?

Yes, and you do not need to specially mention a bicycle unless it is valued at £4000 or more.

The Contents section will cover your bicycles when it is in your home, an outbuilding or in your garden. The Cover Away From Home section of the policy will provide worldwide cover when they are temporarily removed from your home, including being taken abroad.

??julk

[lewisnoble]

This is strange, thanks for pointing it out.

I decided to go with M & S because of the recommendations, and it came out substantially cheaper than my previous insurance.  The customer servicwes person who took my details told me that bikes would not be covered - I did not think to look at the website.  I will get back to them and let you know the outcome.

It may be because my son had two bikes (my bikes, covered under my policy) pinched last year - a Trek went one week, and its insurance replacement, a Dawes, went the next.  I obviously had to declare that.

Watch this space.

Lewis

[lewisnoble]

Yes, the exclusion of my bike cover with M & S is because of the two bikes that rode themselves off into the sunset over the last few months.  Even allowing for that, and the need to arrange specific cover (my Thorn is with Cyclecover already so I can easily extend that) the deal is good and service seems good.

lewis

[Audax hopeful]

Just to let people know - M&S are still offering cycle insurance with their home insurance packages at no extra cost and up to £4000 per cycle. This seems to be one of the best around at the moment, especially as the away from home section includes the bikes too!!
I've just switched - the overall premium was a substancial saving over Norwich Union too!!

[Fred A-M]

I've just insured my RST for approx £45 with the Halifax as a specified item under home contents insurance.  Whilst not free, Halifax came up as the cheapest for home contents insurance by a country mile when I went through moneysupermarket.com. 

Whilst I didn't do exhaustive research, I was exceptionally pleased with the quote and even taking the £45 extra for the RST, I doubt very much that I could have got any cheaper in terms of total cost.  This also covers taking the bike abroad. 

[Henryka]

Like most of your personal property, your bicycle should be covered under the named perils section of your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy for both on and off premises damage. But keep in mind that your deductible may exceed the cost of the bicycle.

[Prinsen]

Home insurance can cover expensive bikes under certain conditions. Like most of your personal property, your bicycle should be covered under the named perils section of your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy for both on and off premises damage. But keep in mind that your deductible may exceed the cost of the bicycle.

[pwat]

Try Saga
If you are too young for that, use Martins moneysavingexpert.com.
It took me over an hour getting various quotes to discover most would not do a decent deal with the bikes.
Success at last - My home contents insurance includes two bikes (one £1,500) and misc other (named/un-named) items at home and off the premises.
Premium significantly under £100, then got a £30 discount for letting them quote for my car insurance!